Prior to its showdown with fellow unbeaten Easton on Monday night at Memorial Field, Emmaus head coach Sue Butz-Stavin said her team needed to do a better job of finishing around the goal cage.
That message was heard loud and clear and the Hornets responded.
Using a pair of second half goals off of penalty corners from senior Autumn Held, Emmaus defeated the Red Rovers 2-0 in the first of two regular-season meetings between the archrivals.
The Hornets, who were coming off a 2-1 defeat to fellow national power Oak Knoll, NJ on Saturday, got tested in the first half against an Easton squad that entered with a perfect 7-0 record and had outscored its opponents 56-1. But the second half was a different story as Emmaus dominated time of possession as they picked up the victory to improve to 8-1 overall. They also remained one of two unbeatens in the EPC (7-0) along with rival Parkland.
Held scored the first of her two goals less than three minutes into the third quarter to give Emmaus a 1-0 lead and then later added her second goal with 8:30 remaining in regulation, deflecting a shot from teammate senior Melea Weber past Red Rovers junior goalie Olivia Heryla.
For the game, Emmaus outshot Easton 8-5 and held a 7-3 advantage in penalty corners. Hornets senior goalie Emma Cari posted her seventh shutout of the season making five saves, while Heryla was credited with two stops.
The two teams will meet again next Monday, September 25 at 5:45 p.m. in Easton.
Before facing the Red Rovers for the second time this season, Emmaus will return to action tonight at 6:30 p.m. as they travel to Nazareth and will then close out the week with a road trip on Friday at East Stroudsburg South at 3:30 p.m.
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Emmaus 2, Easton 0
Ea – 0-0-0-0 – 0
Em – 0-0-1-1 – 2
Scoring:
Em – Autumn Held 2g, Lauren Kushma 1a, Autum Kernechel 1a, Melea Weber 1a
SOG – Em 8, Ea 5
PC – Em 7, Ea 3